Did the moon landing actually happen? On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took a,
“Giant leap for mankind” (Armstrong). This event in history took place after
the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik into space, which was the start
of the space race. Many believe that it never happened, and it was all a fake.
Why is it that the American flag was rippling on the moon? how did they even
get past the Van Allen zone? Was the
Government desperate to beat the Russians in the space race? Let's analyze Neil
Armstrong and the moon landing to find out what really happened.
Character
Analysis
Neil Armstrong, a pilot and astronaut, was known for being
the first man to set foot on the moon, but who really is he? Neil Armstrong, son of Stephen and Viola
Armstrong, was born on August 5,1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio (“Neil Armstrong”).
He was an intelligent, 5”11”, brunette, blue eye, who weighed 180lbs. and
attended prude University. This statement was from the Armstrong family
regarding the death of Armstrong, “Neil was our loving husband, father,
grandfather, brother and friend. Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American
hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation
proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. He also found
success back home in his native Ohio in business and academia, and became a
community leader in Cincinnati” (Dunbar). NASA Administrator Stated,
"Besides being one of America's greatest explorers, Neil carried himself
with a grace and humility that was an example to us all. When President Kennedy
challenged the nation to send a human to the moon, Neil Armstrong accepted
without reservation” (1), after Armstrong's Death.
As Neil Armstrong was interviewed by
DR. Stephen E. Ambrose and DR. Douglas Brinkley on September 19,2001, Armstrong
responded: I began to focus on aviation probably at age eight or nine, and
inspired by what I'd read and seen about aviation and building model aircraft,
why, I determined at an early age—and I don't know exactly what age, while I
was still in elementary school—that that was the field I wanted to go into, although
my intention was to be—or hope was to be an aircraft designer. I later went
into piloting because I thought a good designer ought to know the operational
aspects of an airplane. (Armstrong) As Denise Chow asked Hansen how Neil was
like in person he responded, “Even as a 10-year-old
he's essentially doing test flying. He's doing research. He's studying. He had
a little notebook as to how far each one of the models flew. He was kind of a
proto-engineer even as a boy. Then, of course, he got his pilot's license on
his sixteenth birthday. He hadn't even started to drive, or even try to drive
an automobile. He was already flying airplanes” (Chow). This shows how passionate and determined
Armstrong was not just as a person but to the things he believed were important
and loved.
However, Armstrong was
a very private man and wasn’t into much of being in public. As Hansen said, “He
was one of the world's most famous figures, but Neil Armstrong famously shied
away from the spotlight” (Hansen). It was very rare to get an interview with
Neil Armstrong, “Neil was a very private man, and it wasn't easy to get his
permission to do the book” (1). Soon to be a major motion picture, this is the
first—and only—definitive authorized account of Neil Armstrong, the man whose
“one small step” changed history (1).
Unfortunately, Armstrong’s had lost many loved
ones, one of which was his 2-year-old daughter. On January 28, 1962, Neil and Janet
lost their two-year-old daughter Karen to brain cancer, "I thought the
best thing for me to do in that situation was to continue with my
work,"(Hansen) said Armstrong. As Hansen ask questions for his book Neil
explained how he managed with his daughter's death, "keep things as normal
as I could, and try as hard as I could not to have it affect my ability to do
useful things." He became an astronaut that same year. Armstrong
didn’t really talk about his daughter or what he was going through at that
time. The way Armstrong could cope was by continuing to do his job.
Conspiracy
Theories
On July 20, 1967 Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first two men who set foot on the moon.
However, conspiracy theories were made, and many people believe it was hoax. The first conspiracy theory was based on a
picture showing the American flag having ripples on the moon. According to
Time, “The flag's movement, they say, clearly shows the presence of
wind, which is impossible in a vacuum” (“Conspiracy Theories”). Many people
made their decision based on the famous picture of the American Flag being planted
on the moon and having ripples, making it look like it was waving in space. In
one of the ABC articles Gina includes; The wrong coating had been applied to the
telescoping rod, so it wouldn't fully extend, which is why the flag looks like
it is waving in the wind. Ironically, that famous picture of Buzz Aldrin posing
next to the flag is often cited as evidence by conspiracy theorists as proof
the mission to the moon was a hoax. (Treadgold) Conspiracy theorist claim that
the moon landing was faked since it is impossible for there to be breeze on the
moon, “The flag's waves, they argue, were created by a breeze in some top
secret NASA stage set depicting the moon's surface” (1).
The second conspiracy
theory is based on a radiation zone above the Earth also known as the Van Allen
zone. Mr. Meade stated, “would have been impenetrable to the Apollo 11 mission
without dousing its three astronauts with lethal doses of radiation” (Kettley). He also claimed the Apollo mission which took
astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin to the moon was not
shielded from the Van Allen zone. Mr. Meade had a few thoughts himself; Guess
what? Without nuclear protection, it appears that a biologic life form such as
a human cannot pass through these belts. That is, of course, unless there are
six feet of lead to shield from the radiation. The Apollo spacecraft had no
such shielding. Is this the most simple way to prove that no missions went
through the Van Allen Belt? Is this world controlled by sociopaths who have no
concern for the truth? That’s the bottom-line question. Have we been subject to
a series of lies ever since the 1960s? That’s what Eisenhower warned us about.
(1) According to NASA’s space boffins, “there was absolutely no
danger to the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission because the radiation
exposure in the Van Allen zone was minimal” (1). NASA
also stated, “dosimeters carried by Apollo astronauts recorded no more than two
Rads worth of radiation over the six-day mission – far too little to consider
lethal” (1).
The third conspiracy
theory was issued from the government
being desperate to beat the Russians in the space race. The space race began; when the
Soviets launched the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, in October
1957, it set off alarm bells in the Eisenhower administration and created
intense fear and anxiety among the US public that the Soviet Union had
surpassed the technological achievements of the United States. (“The Start of the Space Race”) As one of the articles posted on EarthSky
revealed, “one of the early promoters of the moon
landing conspiracy theory was the Fox television network, which, in 2001, aired
a documentary-style film titled Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the
Moon? It claimed that NASA faked the first landing
in 1969 to win the Space Race” (Byrd). TIME also stated; Theorists have even suggested that filmmaker Stanley
Kubrick may have helped NASA fake the first lunar landing, given that his 1968
film 2001: A Space Odessey proves that the technology existed back then
to artificially create a spacelike set. And as for Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H.
White and Roger B. Chaffee — three astronauts who died in a fire while testing
equipment for the first moon mission? They were executed by the U.S.
government, which feared they were about to disclose the truth. (“Conspiracy
Theories”) Would the U.S. government really execute people to keep it a secret?
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, “With more
than half a billion people watching on television, he climbs down the ladder
and proclaims: That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for
mankind"(Dunbar). The moon landing took place after the Soviet Union
successfully launched Sputnik into space, which was the start of the space race.
Many conspiracies surfaced that it never happened. Why is it that the American
flag was rippling on the moon? how did they even get past the Van Allen zone? Was the Government desperate to
beat the Russians in the space race? After evaluating these conspiracy
theories, evidence points out they may never be solved.
Work Cited
·
Byrd, Deborah. “Apollo
and the Moon-Landing Hoax.” EarthSky,
earthsky.org/space/apollo-and-the-moon-landing-hoax.
·
Chow, Denise. “'First
Man' Writer Tells What Neil Armstrong Was like in Real Life.” NBCNews.com,
NBCUniversal News Group, 14 Oct. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/first-man-writer-tells-what-neil-armstrong-was-real-life-ncna919741.
·
“Conspiracy Theories.”
Time, Time Inc., 20 Nov. 2008,
content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1860992,00.html.
·
Dunbar, Brian. “FAMILY
STATEMENT REGARDING THE DEATH OF NEIL ARMSTRONG.” NASA, NASA, 6 June
2013, www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/aug/HQ_12_600_armstrong_family.html#.W8XY-GhKjcs.
·
Dunbar, Brian. “NASA
Administrator Statement on Neil Armstrong's Death.” NASA, NASA, 6 June
2013, www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/aug/HQ_12-601_Bolden_Statement.html#.W8XdXGhKjcs.
·
Hansen, James R.
“First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.” Amazon, Amazon, 27 Nov.
2012, www.amazon.com/First-Man-Life-Neil-Armstrong/dp/1476727813.
·
Kettley, Sebastian. “Was
the Moon Landing FAKED? David Meade Weighs in on NASA Apollo 11 Hoax Claims.” Express.co.uk,
Express.co.uk, 22 May 2018, www.express.co.uk/news/weird/963446/Moon-landing-fake-NASA-hoax-Apollo-11-conspiracy-theory-David-Meade.
·
Lang, Kevin. “First
Man Movie vs. the True Story of Astronaut Neil Armstrong.” HistoryvsHollywood.com,
History vs. Hollywood, 10 Oct. 2018, www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/first-man/.
·
“Neil Armstrong.” Biography.com,
A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/neil-armstrong-9188943.
·
“The Start of the
Space Race.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/postwarera/1950s-america/a/the-start-of-the-space-race.
·
Treadgold, Gina. “Why
Does the U.S. Flag on the Moon Have Ripples?” ABC News, ABC News
Network, abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97589&page=1
Attachment
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